The Flock
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: One-shots of flock members and some of their thoughts. *Finished
1. Iggy

**A/N: This came to me last night and I really didn't want to lose it so here's this new series of one-shots by moi (Sky) for the flock.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR, but I have all the books upstairs so maybe I do own them… nah. jkjk**

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_**Iggy**_

It occurred to me after we'd already left Anne Walker's house. Go figure.

That Jessica girl. I can't remember her name very well now. It all kind of blends together. I'm hoping it was Jessica. I know she said she was really tall. That they all thought she was a freak because of what she looked like.

Anne Walker confused me pretty bad. I was totally lost with all the stuff that had happened at school because I never learned much there that I didn't already know. As my general "over-view" (Get it?), it downright sucked.

As we were flying, my thoughts crossed back to the school and all the noises resounded and echoed in my skull. She had somehow come back and I was caught up in her words now. Weird…

I'm blind. That doesn't bother me. But I realized something as the jet-streamed winds lifted me higher into the sky and the clouds closed in around me with their cold pressurized air.

Especially for me, it doesn't matter what's on the outside, mostly because I can't see it. So that's the slight problem. If I ever decided to date another non-mutant, it would be the inside that would count. I'm blind. Appearance doesn't really matter to me.

I did a little dive-bomb, my wings brushing someone else's. I assumed Nudge or Angel. They were too soft for Fang or Max's worn feathers.

Jessica helped me appreciate something that most other people would never understand. I can't see people. Therefore, I can't judge them before I meet them. It's all in their personalities. If I ever "saw" (Man, I crack myself up!) Jessica again, I'd have to thank her. The girl did me a huge favor by showing me the truth that not many other people actually think about, but it's the only thing I have to rely on.

Wings soared a bit lower to come down beneath me. "Ig, what's up?" Max asked. "We were coasting with the current and you just disappeared underneath us!" Then she was a silent. "I'm glaring at you, Iggy."

"Just admiring the view." A thin smirk crossed my lips. Yeah, I must admit I'm hysterical.

"Come on. It's easier if we're up here." Her hand brushed mine and I let the faster paced air lift me back with the flock again.

Sometimes being blind has its perks. I get to make dumb excuses and no one asks me again because they're too pissed the first time.

Gazzy was to my right. I knew where he was because of the wind blowing slightly towards me. Fang usually took his place on top of the stack with Max right below him and in the lead. Nudge and Angel kept closer to the bottom of the group near the warmer air. It becomes patterns that I memorize.

Thanks Jessica. You've shown me the good things that happened because of my lost sight.

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**A/N: It's true tho. I'm amazed it never occurred to him, but I was flipping through my manga for about the millionth time (since Tuesday at least). Thanks to Jessica (I'm hoping that was her name. I'm not getting up to check because I'm on a roll.) Next is Fang and it's already planned in my head. Most of it at least. Please review!**

**~Sky**


	2. Fang

**A/N: alrite, here's Fang. Dreamed this one last night which was weird cuz I don't think I slept… I haven't slept for days… Flashback is from the manga since I'm not flipping through the entire first book to try and find this scene when I've already read it a thousand bajillion times in the manga because the page is marked. Lol.**

**This is based… between somewhere and somewhere when Ari wasn't dead but after the first book and maybe after 'Max' but they're all still on the run. Got it? Good!**

**Rated T**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. I think we all wish we'd thought of this first…**

_**Fang**_

Ari. I swear I was gonna kill the guy. Well, not guy. Eraser. Same difference. I'm still gonna kill him.

Let's do a little flashback, shall we?

_I threw my jacket over Max. Knew it'd bring her out of that little dreamland she calls her head so that's why I did it. There's a method to the silent madness. No one knows it though._

_She pulled it off her head revealing her frizzed brown hair and two milky chocolate eyes trained on me. "Fang."_

"_The wind is cold tonight," I breathed, folding my arms across my chest. The clouds were wafting across the moon and the stars shone on the salt water. It was just the two of us. Everyone else was…somewhere. I'd lost track of them. Oh well. Max was my main focus for now._

_Her gaze fell back to the sand. "'Kay…" She was definitely distracted with something._

_We watched the ocean for awhile until my name came from her lips one more time. "Fang."_

_I turned back to her, a signal she'd take as my version of 'What?'_

"_A mutant freak and a hero…" she took a quiet pause and drank in the icy salt tasting wind around us. "…actually might not be that different…" Her voice trailed off again as she fell back into her thoughts._

_Time to bring her back out again. I leaned down to sit next to her, easing myself down into the sand. "What's wrong? The voice in your head?" I asked, sitting Indian style._

"_Not now," she murmured quietly, my new jacket across her shoulders._

_She was still too deep in her dreamland. I pulled her head down onto my lap, knowing some comfort would do her good. "Then get some sleep," I suggested, leaving my hand on her head to run my fingers through her caramel strands of hair. "Don't waste your energy overthinking things."_

_Max was too tense for a second. I wondered if I had done the right thing until she relaxed and her eyes slid closed. Her hand rested on my knee and she stretched out more on the sand. "Guess that's a good idea." Her sigh brought me some peace of mind._

_I stared at the water until I felt her sleeping against me. Her breathing became a rhythm and I took the first watch for her. I'd stay up all night if it would help Max. And not just because she's the leader._

Back to the Ari point. I keep running these memories through my mind whenever I'm on watch and remembering that me being with them is vital to their survival as well as my own. We're family. It's what we do. Keep reading. It gets better.

_Woah, when did they get here? Crap. Erasers were everywhere around us. She'd shot up like a bullet when Ari had spoken. "Dammit…" I snarled. Man, why do all my special moments have to get ruined? Of course. Because it's me and Max. Whenever there's a good moment for us, something obviously just _has_ to go wrong._

_I'd apparently missed a little bit of them fighting because I snapped back into reality as his claws struck out at Max. My Max. _

_I moved just enough to get in the way and take the blow for her. Three neat slices were carved into my cheek and I could feel the blood pouring out. It spattered against the sand with a splashing sound. That is obviously not a good sign._

"_FANG!" Her voice came out scared. I was pretty sure that wasn't her intention._

_Ari roared with rage. "YOU LITTLE PIECE OF GARBAGE!"_

_Yup. Because genetic mutant freak isn't a good enough term for us anymore. I let myself breath evenly for a moment and I was about to reach up and feel the damage when Ari's hand came and smacked me across the beach into the crowd of Erasers. _

_I landed hard and struggled to take in air after that. It felt like my chest had collapsed in and my heart had stopped working. Too bad it hadn't. That would've been too easy for Ari. It would've been too hard on Max and the rest of the flock. Dying would've been the end of it all. It would've saved me from the life of torture._

"_You think you're a knight in shining armor or something?!" Ari snarled as I pressed myself up again._

_Max yelled to me again. "FANG!"_

_Yeah. Ari kind of hit it spot on. I was her knight in shining armor at that moment. I'd saved her from the scars. Blood ran into my mouth from the slits in my cheek. Coughing up blood, I had one of Max's infamous smart-ass remarks ready for him. It was wasted as he came over and kicked me hard in the stomach._

_My throat closed in. I coughed more, tasting the sticky blood. So disgusting. I laid on my side, losing hope._

"_FANG!" Nudge screamed from the air. Iggy, The Gasman, and Angel were with her. At least they were safe. They didn't need to see this either. I wished they hadn't been looking. I wished they'd all just left so I could suffer alone. I wanted the flock to be gone and out of harm's way. That was what they needed. They didn't need to see me like this._

"_Don't come near!" I yelled to them. It was a torture I'd go through alone. I wouldn't let this conflict hurt the flock. I'd be fine. I would always be fine as long as we were all together._

_Ari wasn't done with me yet. I couldn't get that lucky. He grabbed my shirt and I was lifted from the sand._

_My body wouldn't work to fight back. I was too beaten. Trying would be hopeless and I was already finished._

"_Ha. How very…" Ari was going for the dramatic effect of killing me. Yeah, just end it please! "…TOUCHING!" he finished with a howl._

_The icy air whipping around me as I was tossed like a ragdoll against the face of a nearby cliff. My bones crunched and I felt the sharp, jutting rocks stabbing into my back. _

_I barely caught a glimpse of Max's face, eyes wide and fearful for me. She had tears on the verge of breaking. The girl could only keep a brave face on for so long._

_My head hit the wall of stone with a jerk harder than I could've believed possible. It sent echoing agony through my system and it all shut down and I was sent into the darkness that I fought off like a swarm. It pressed in from all sides and I was desperate to stay awake and see what became of the flock._

_A hand was pulling me off the sand and rock ground. "Fang, wake up!"_

_Max. It was Max. She was there, holding me. I could hear her heart beating in her chest and I was frozen still for a second. I wanted to open my eyes and tell her that I was still alive, but I couldn't. My life was drained and I wasn't sure whether I even dared to try._

Something moved behind me and my eyes darted over my shoulder. Just the wind, I assumed. Might as well look anyways. Not like I've got anything better to do. I rose to my feet. Go on. Watch the flashback. I'm gonna stare at Max for awhile since there's nothing in the stupid bushes.

"_FANG! MAX!" the rest of our little family was coming down out of the sky._

_Stupid black. Why did I always wear so much of it again? Oh right, because it means death specifically and I used to think death was a pretty cool thing because it meant the end of us and our lives and it'd all be easier because we'd be angels sooner, but we wouldn't need to earn our wings. We'd just have them._

"_Fang… Wake up…" Nudge was crying and I could hear it. Her voice cracked easily.  
_

_I didn't need to freak. I'd be perfectly fine in an hour or two hopefully. Maybe by tomorrow. It was hard to tell. "Ugh." Yeah, it still hurt._

_My brain felt like it was about to explode behind my eyes and my skull would shatter with the sheer force of the blow. The wounds in my cheek were searing with the pain. Sand had gotten in there and, I know I'm not a specialist or anything, but I knew that was not a good thing. Blood still streaked down my face and dripped into my mouth._

_I knew Max was still holding me tightly against her chest. Her hand was tangled in my shorter hair and she was keeping me close, not wanting to risk Ari coming back for me. He probably wouldn't but better safe than sorry._

"_He should see a doctor," Iggy suggested. _

_I wanted to kill him right there. Yeah. What do you plan to tell the guy? 'Oh, he's just got wings, no biggie.' I mean, really? That doesn't make any sense at all! Or better, 'It's just a costume.'_

_My voice was finally back. That was a good sign."No hospi'l."_

"_Fang!" I think they all cheered or something, but I was bent on hearing Max's voice above all the others. I needed her now just like she'd needed me to take the hit for her against Ari._

"_How bad?" That was my Max. She was calm, but I could feel the panic breaking her impenetrable shield of _

_I was kind of assessing the damage myself. My face was on fire. My back was hurt real bad. Like blazing pain kind of bad. Not a good sign. I was feeling sick to my stomach. Ari was stronger than I'd thought, but I'd saved max from that torture. That was what really counted. Especially when I felt the real pain kick in. "Pre'y bad," I breathed, barely remembering that air was a necessity. I had to focus on my lungs and keeping them from exploding at that point. "Feel like crap."_

_Max was wiping the blood from my lips. That stuff tasted nasty. Why did I name myself Fang again? I have no idea. It sounds like a vampire name or something. Good thing I don't like blood at all._

"_Fang…" The way my name rolled off her tongue just made my heart pick up to a normal speed again. She sounded so sad…_

"_Ow." Hurt. Pain. Ow. Max. Cut it out. It hurts!_

_Her voice got a little choked up. "Just live, okay? Live and be okay." Maximum Ride. She was worried about me. I was thinking it over, still working on my slight breathing issue. Air. Max. Worry. Air. Need air. Gonna kill Ari. Breathe._

_Then I felt cool lips against mine and she was kissing me. Oh god, it was incredible. I could feel my head going numb and she was driving me crazy without even knowing it. That was the weird part. The girl had no clue what she was doing to me. As if the pain in my skull wasn't enough, there were emotions floating around in there too to make it that much worse._

_When she pulled away, I thought I was going to die all over again._

Now let's do a re-cap. I'm currently fighting off a stupid raccoon that decided to try and eat my head. Moronic much?

I threw it into a bush and it ran away. Yeah, don't fight the guy with wings. I always win.

…scratch that. I forgot some of the fights with Ari.

Max had a dumb smile on. She's so cute when she smiles in her sleep. I mean, I just want to tell her I love her, but since I already know Angel has done that for me enough, I'm stuck wondering why my idiot best friend won't do anything about it. I sat against a tree, slipping back into my silent vigil. She was still smiling.

I loved her smile.

When you look back and see all that for the millionth time, I stare at Max and wonder, 'What the hell were you doing then that changes things now?!' She kisses me, all's right with the world. I kiss her, she runs and hides and acts like I'm poisonous.

Finally I felt myself fading into the background and disappearing entirely. What the hell is with Max? The world may never know. Stupid Tootsie Pop commercials.

**A/N: those were my favorite parts of the manga that I recapped and I figured the raccoon thing just for the heck of the world. Why not bug him even more? It's fun! Review! I want to know if it's any good.**

**~Sky**

**P.S. I read all the books(finally finished 'Max' in a little under a day with school and all that). I have two questions:**

**1) can someone tell me what AU means?**

**2) who the heck is Dylan???? did i miss him in the books or is he coming in 'Fang'?**

**Someone PM me or review bcuz I am super confused!!! Thankiez!!**

**And again,**

**~Sky**


	3. Angel

**A/N: finally getting another one of these up!**

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_Angel_

I looked over at him, reading his mind simply. Another sucker in the lot of them.

"This game is over," I announced to the group, placing my cards in front of them, revealing my instant win.

"How do you assume, Angel?" one of the guys asked. I never cared to remember their names. Just toys in my mind game.

Max's eyes got all wide as she entered the room, seeing the cards and game going on before her. She brushed her brown hair out of her eyes as I sent her a message with my mind. She needed to take a chill pill and get some food. And maybe bring some for me too.

"Angel," she said softly. "What are you doing?"

"Playing some poker," I answered, turning up my cute dial by about a million and twenty notches. She was such a sucker, just like the rest.

"What have I told you about playing poker?"

Oh for crying out loud… Max was such a spoilsport. "But, Max-"

"Angel." Her voice was stern. Her decision was final. My opinion worthless.

"Fine." I jumped up, curls bouncing around my face. "I'll just take my win first."

Max groaned.

The guys showed their cards, each a loss.

"Thank you very much," I giggled, reaping the money and shoving it all in my pockets before skipping away with Max walking behind me and muttering some words about 'leader' and 'hard' and 'disobedience'.

Whatever that means.

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**A/N: short simple and sweet. just like Angel. how'd you like it?**

**~Sky**


	4. Nudge

**A/N: another installment. All I have to say to my fans is that thanks a ton. It means so much to have you read my stuff. Especially when this is updated so little. And I have two more ideas, one for a story and one for a songfic. So expect those this week or next week**

**Disclaimer: own nothing.**

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"Max?" I walked into the room after pushing the door wide open.

She was laying in her bed with her eyes shut and her head hanging off one side. Her brown and white and black flecked wings were splayed out on the bed under her. She opened one eye, knowing the door had been opened. "Hey, Nudge. What's up? Need me for something?"

I nodded pretty fast. "I need a favor. Good thing is that Iggy is blind and I took his chopsticks. The newest trend in Florida and in the Hollywood hills is chopsticks in peoples' hair. I totally have to follow that and Iggy had chopsticks so I took them and since you're like the only one I know who would help me and Angel's not great with hair and you're awesome so you'd help and I have chopsticks. I wanna follow the Florida trend because it's awesome and chopsticks are totally cool and-"

Max's dirty hand clamped over my mouth. "Iggy will kill you, but alright." She was too quiet sometimes. She ripped the chopsticks out of my hands and I handed her the magazine.

She flipped open the magazine and I stared at her with eager eyes. "I know you're no expert or anything, but at least you know enough to help me and all. I like having you do my hair. You're fun to talk to and stuff. Angel's kinda creepy and all the guys can't do my hair so they don't count for anything most of the time. They're not like you. You're special, Max. I love you."

"You have no idea how to do this, do you?" asked Max, eyes glaring at me accusingly.

"Nope!"

A long sigh escaped her lips and she fingered the chopsticks. "Okay, are there instructions in here?"

"No..."

"So you expect me to just wing it?" A short pause ensued and then she finished, "No pun intended."

I just nodded, knowing that any sort of response would end in her hand clamped over my mouth again. Silence was golden around Fang and Max. Neither of them liked to talk a whole lot like me. Anyone else, not so much.

Max sighed again and I gave a slight wince. "Okay, so we're in a little trouble and we don't know what we're doing, but if we can fight off mad scientists and get ourselves out of dog crates and live on our own and survive in New York subways, we can sure as heck figure this out. You're Maximum Ride! And I'm Nudge! Let's face it, we can do anything!"

"Nudge?"

"Mhm?" I could feel my eagerness just oozing. It probably was just a bit too convincing or something...

She pressed the long, slender pieces of wood harshly into my chocolate colored palm. "I think you should give Iggy his chopsticks back before he kills you."

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**A/N: hehe. Nudge… she's so funny.**

**Review and you will grow wings.**

**~Sky**


	5. Gazzy

**A/N: after this, is Max. the final chapter. And if you haven't noticed, Max has been in every single chapter.**

**Disclaimer: own nothing.**

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**Gazzy**

Max's eyes were frantic as she stared at me coldly. "What do you mean we're playing a game of 'Bomb Hide-and-Seek'?" she snarled, grabbing my collar and hoisting me about a foot into the air by my shirt.

"Well-"

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE HOUSE! GAZZY LEFT A BOMB SOMEWHERE!"

Angel was the first one out of the bedroom area with Nudge quickly behind her, the two girls running and screaming.

Girls. Always thinking it's a stink bomb. Of course it's not! Those are for amateur hour. I would never downgrade my expertise.

Iggy was running and managed to hit a wall and knock himself senseless, Max having to guide him out of the room after that with a sneer at me.

And at last, Fang came out of his room, clutching his laptop to his chest as if it was his only source of life. His dark eyes were wide and his hair was wild in its held back ponytail.

"You guys are so panicky," I said as I stepped outside to join them. "It's just a bomb. It's-"

"Gazzy, I need to, like, debombify your brain or something," hissed our leader, holding Angel tightly to her chest.

Well that really didn't sound too great.

And then the house blew up behind us.

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**A/N: that was good ^.^ review it!**

**~Sky**


	6. Max

**A/N: time for the final chapter of this. I loved it. Now it's done. After this, I'll start a full-length story that I've had planned for months…**

**Disclaimer: I own no part of Maximum Ride.**

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_**Max**_

I kissed Angel's crown of golden curls. She snuggled Celeste a little tighter to her chest, her face tucking itself into the pillow that cradled her head.

And as I slipped out of the room, I shut the door soundlessly behind me.

I made my way to the guys' room, knowing I had to check on Gazzy and Iggy to be sure they weren't constructing a bomb in the middle of the night without my knowledge. I wouldn't put it past them. They were a couple of mischief-makers. And that was what I loved about those two.

Gazzy's blankets were strewn everywhere, whereas Iggy's were wrapped tightly around him; his wings were tucked tightly to his back as he lay with his face facing the wall. I silently maneuvered over to Gazzy's bedside and tugged the sheets across his thin frame so that his shoulders were covered, protected from the cold.

As silently as I had left Angel's room, I shut the door behind me, not making a sound in the house.

I made sure to check on Fang, just in case he was gallivanting around in the night without warning. He had picked up a habit of taking off whenever he wanted to. And I didn't bother him about it. I let him go. But I liked knowing so I could close his window and just leave the door unlocked for him instead. The cold air kept on getting in when he left the windows open.

Surprisingly, he was dead asleep, head on the pillow and a dribble of drool sliding from the corner of his lips. His raven-colored hair was floating across the pristine white pillow, standing out in the darkness like the moon in the blackened sky.

He had a tiny smile hiding on his features, the only way I could see them was by the waning light of the sliver of moon hanging in the night outside his closed window.

I gently leaned down and kissed his cheek, knowing he was too far-gone to feel it. I loved it when he was sleeping. He was so much easier to deal with.

Again, I slipped from the room, casting one last glance at him and seeing the shadows that were his wings plastered tightly to his back, the feathers gleaming in the black that soaked up the room's faint light.

Quietly, I picked my way down the hall, heading to my own room with a tiptoe pace and gentle steps on the floorboards that were beneath me. I slid into the room I shared with Nudge and looked over at her, curled up with the blankets snuggled against her chest.

I collapsed into my own bed, knowing Nudge was fine on her own. She was my little trooper. The one who could make it through anything.

Her chocolaty brown eyes fluttered open. And I tucked the pillow under my head before putting my head down on it, my arm still tucked beneath it. "Go back to sleep," I whispered to her softly.

Touching her features was a gentle smile. She curled the blankets around her tighter, fingers clutching it in a death-grip for warmth. "Night, Max," she breathed, her voice dreamlike as her eyes slid shut again, the peace of sleep carrying her away into her dreamland of clouds and castles.

With a long sigh and a careful flex of my wings, I sprawled out across my bed until I was comfortable.

The life of a mother hen was tough. But I would always be ready to live it. I was in this for the ride. The Maximum Ride.

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**A/N: I think this characterized Max pretty well. Anyways, that's the end. Hope you enjoyed. Please review, thank you!**

**~Sky**


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